Episode five, “Festival Wear,” was a bloodbath on “Making the Cut,” with outrage from judge Jeremy Scott and the eliminations of both Curtis Cassell and Sienna Li. That left five designers going into episode six, “Social Media Content”: Rafael Chaouiche, Georgia Hardinge, Jeanette Limas, Markantoine Lynch-Boisvert, and Yannik Zamboni. After all that vitriol, it was nice to get back to a kinder, gentler “Making the Cut.” And spoiler alert: no notebooks were harmed in the filming of this episode.
“We’re going to turn this thing around,” host and head judge Heidi Klum told the final five. They would get a chance to redeem themselves by showing off their online marketing skills. Not only would they be creating the usual two-look collections — one high-fashion runway design and one accessible look — they would also be filming their own TikTok videos to show off the merch. They would be judged on the clothes themselves and on their social media showmanship.
“It is so important that these are unique and stand out,” says host and mentor Tim Gunn. “What message are you relaying to your audience about your brand?” Thankfully the designers would get two days, making this their first two-day assignment since “Activewear Champions.” Of course, part of that time will have to be spent shooting and editing their videos, but they’ll be doing that with their phones. We’re not talking some big-budget studio production. So two days sounds like an almost civilized amount of time to finish their tasks.
“Jeremy’s reaction, that was hard. In life you can fail and fall and get up again. Here it’s like, if you fail you’re out,” says Yannik, still reeling from Jeremy’s criticisms in the previous episode. He’s tired, hasn’t slept much. He understands that Jeremy’s reaction was because he cared about the designers — I’m not sure I exactly agree with that — but it took its toll on Yannik because “I’m a sensitive person” with a history of being bullied. Rafael also feels lost and disappointed with himself after the thrown notebook heard ’round the world.
Georgia, meanwhile, is worried that she’s biting off more than she can chew with a design idea that would normally take her a week: a new sculptural form of fabric-folding that’s a step beyond the pleating she has become known for this season. “Am I being stupid?” she wonders. Jeannie’s gonna stick with the draping that has made her a judges’ favorite, and she’s going to use red again like she won with in the “Festival Wear” assignment. Markantoine is also leaning into his aesthetic: glam-punk skater boy, but sequined out to try to give the judges what he thinks they want. And as Yannik pulls himself back together, he decides to continue his androgynous themes with a tomboy look on a female model and a dress on a male model.
The Tim Talks go better this time than they did before, though not without their share of concerns. “Rafael is back!” he says when he sees the Brazilian designer’s dramatic wing-like pleats. However, he’ll need to rethink how he incorporates the pleats into his accessible look because they’re … a lot. He’s also worried that Yannik’s accessible look isn’t accessible enough — and that they generally haven’t been throughout the competition.
Tim notices Markantoine is going more feminine than usual, but needs to dial down the number of textiles to avoid overwhelming the judges. He’s also concerned that Jeanette’s looks aren’t elevated enough to stand out beyond just a classic gown shape. But he’s all in on what Georgia’s doing; while he thinks her pleats look kinda like spinal bones, she’s actually into that, so Tim agrees she should lean into it.
When Tim exits he tells the designers, “You’re creating beautiful, innovative, creative work. Keep doing it!” That’s a much better way to leave things off than in the last episode.
As day one winds down, Rafael finds himself lost as to how to redesign his accessible piece, Markantoine throws a little shade at Jeanette’s look for not being modern enough. Yannik has nothing for his model to try on when it’s time for fittings, but he throws a little shade of his own at Rafael’s runway look for being too “Disney princess.” Though to be fair, anyone would look like a Disney princess next to Yannik’s abstract, deconstructed style. Honestly, I’d like to see a Disney princess designed by Yannik. The next time Elsa breaks bad, she’d look great in an all-white androgynous Yannik original.
The drama on the second day of the assignment is all about Rafael. The morning starts with an emotional call with his mother, who is being treated for cancer back in Brazil but encouraged him to compete on the show anyway. That’s a big reason the competition is so important to him: he left her side to compete on the show in the hopes of furthering his career.
Emotions continue to run high when he gets to work on his TikTok video. One of his ideas is to spray paint the pants of his accessible look while the model is wearing it. The problem is that when he begins doing just that, the model starts to feel the wetness of the paint on her legs. He assures her that the paint is water-based — which I guess is supposed to reassure her? — but it’s a hard no from her as soon as the paint reaches more, um, sensitive areas. He finishes applying the paint while she’s out of the pants, but she refuses to get back in them until they’re dry and time is running out. Eventually she gives in, but insists, “If I have allergy tomorrow, I’m going to sue you.”
I’ve gotta say, this seems like poor planning on Rafael’s part. Models are so vulnerable in fashion, lending their bodies to designers as a canvas for their art, exposing themselves to the judgments of the audience. If she doesn’t know what’s being sprayed on her or how it will affect her, I think that’s down to the designer’s lack of communication. He should have tested out this idea much sooner. That’s the last we hear of this conflict, so I guess she didn’t break out in hives and take him to court.
Sister singers and actresses Chloe Bailey and Halle Bailey joined regular judges Heidi, Jeremy, and Nicole Richie first to judge the looks on the runway, and then in their social media videos. I think they should have flipped it to really emphasize the social media element of the assignment. I wonder if the fashion show would play differently if the judges got their first impressions from the TikToks.
Jeanette’s two looks come out first, and while the judges immediately recognize her draping work, they don’t think it worked out as well as it has in the past. Heidi thinks the draping looks forced, doesn’t flow naturally. Then on the accessible look, Halle comments that she likes the bottom half but the top half just looks like a sports bra, and once Heidi sees that, she can’t unsee it.
Markantoine’s looks are next, starting with his runway look: a man in a sequined sweatshirt and sequin-patch pants, plus his head entirely covered by a sequined hood: “I feel like I’m in my worst nightmare and I love it,” says Nicole. But when the accessible look comes out, they’re surprised it’s the accessible look. It’s complicated, and Heidi thinks there’s too much going on.
Yannik’s two looks are better received. The judges are unsure at first about the high-fashion design but then deduce that it’s a dress in the shape of a single pant leg and they’re sold on it immediately. “It’s true art,” says Nicole about the way she sees more that impresses her the more she looks at it. The oversized accessible pants don’t go over quite as well, and Chloe and Halle don’t think they’d be flattering on all bodies, but Heidi still loves it even though she loves the dress more.
Rafael’s looks are both problematic. The fabric is too stiff on his runway look and the pants are ill-fitting. Chloe and Halle don’t think the shape is flattering with its boxy fanned out pleats on each side. But then the pleat material on the accessible top is collapsing in on itself, while the colors of the pants, makeup, and jewelry clash with each other. At this point I’m worried he’s going home, especially after Tim suggested that there might be another double elimination.
Georgia closes the show, and as far as the judges are concerned they’ve saved the best for last. Nicole loves how she took her pleating to a different level. Chloe appreciates how flattering it is for the female body. Jeremy loves the continuity from the pleated runway look to an accessible look that turns those pleat effects into a print. Looks like a pretty easy win for Georgia at this point, a real breakthrough after flying under the radar for most of the other challenges.
It’s only now that the judges take a look at the social media videos, though they’ve mostly made up their minds by the time they’re shown. Yannik is the first to listen to the judges huzzahs about his two looks, and Jeremy hands his notebook to Nicole to reassure him that there will be no throwing today — haha, it’s funny because of how upsetting it was. “I never knew that I wanted to be a leg or a butt cheek before, but after seeing that dress, I do,” says Nicole. Alas, filmmaking isn’t Yannik’s strong suit, but Chloe actually loved the rough quality of his social media video, which made it more relatable.
But Georgia nailed both halves of the assignment. Not only do the judges love her looks, they love her eerie social media video with its stop-motion effects and transitions from the pleats to the runway dress to the accessible dress. “I’m so very proud of you,” says Jeremy. “Your singular talent, you exploded it onto that dress.” As if there were any doubt, Georgia wins her very first assignment ! (Watch our interview with Hardinge below.)
Markantoine is called up next. Heidi didn’t love the glitter patch pants and thought the second look was like a bunch of scraps stuck to a skirt. The multilayered accessible skirt didn’t resonate with Jeremy either. And Nicole has had issues with Markantoine over-styling his looks all season. Then we see his video, which is full of a lot of glitter and dancing but doesn’t showcase the clothes as well as it could. Much to Markantoine’s surprise, he’s not making the cut .
I’m a little surprised too. Based only on the looks from this episode, I don’t think he deserved to be sent home, but the judges are clearly factoring in other assignments when making their decisions, and Jeanette and Rafael have impressed them more in the past. But I lose a little sympathy for him when he lowkey throws his fellow designers under the bus. “I’m very surprised, I must say. I think I showed you a lot of versatility,” he tells the judges. “I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed by people showing always the same thing all the time.” He should count himself lucky that the other designers decided to graciously hug him after that kinda petty little dig.
But don’t assume Jeanette and Rafael are safe. They’re called up together after Markantoine’s dismissal. Jeanette admits that her draping didn’t have the effect she was aiming for, and Rafael confesses that his confidence has been shaken up ever since his sewing needle injury. Their social media videos don’t make the decision any easier since neither measures up to Georgia’s, though Jeanette’s dresses actually do look better on camera than they did on the runway and Rafael’s spray paint idea made his pink pants a little more understandable — just don’t ask his model what she thinks.
After some deliberation, the judges decide that Rafael makes the cut. Jeanette says her goodbyes and thanks the judges for the opportunity, but she’s jumping the gun a little because Heidi informs her that she is also making the cut. So just one elimination this week with the quartet of Jeanette, Rafael, Georgia, and Yannik moving on to the next assignment. I like all four of them, though I confess I’m rooting a bit more for Yannik. I love his unapologetically weird, queer aesthetic, and selfishly, with Curtis and Markantoine gone, he’s my last hope to get some menswear — and all-around gender-inclusive wear — into the “Making the Cut” store.
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